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Review of Eddie, Marilyn Munster - Munsters action figures
Diamond Select Toys
Date Published: 2012-12-19
Written By: Michael Crawford
Overall Average Rating: 3
out of 4
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Introduction
Us children of the sixties have plenty of memories of weird, wacky television series. Gilligan's Island, I Dream of
Jeannie, The Addams Family, Lost in Space...there were plenty of fantasy style shows.
Perhaps my favorite was the Munsters. Pure silliness through and through, it generally had about 3 plot themes that it
cycled through each week. It wasn't high art - it wasn't even art. But as a kid I thought it was great fun.
Diamond Select Toys picked up the license to produce figures a couple years ago, and have know finished off the full family
with their release of Marilyn and Eddie, the two siblings of the clan. Eddie was a werewolf of course, and Marilyn
was, well, she was weird in this particular family because she was completely normal.
These are now shipping, and you should be able to pick up the pair (they only come as a pair) for around $22 depending on
the retailer.
Click on the image below for a Life Size version


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Packaging - ***
Diamond Select has used this bookshelf style packaging for many years now, and it can be quite attractive for MOCers. You
can put the package on a shelf just like a book, with the logo on the 'spline', and show off the figures still in the
package.
It's a large package though, making storage in any other way a real estate suckage.
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Sculpting - **1/2
Eddie was a little kid - Butch Patrick often said one of the reasons he won out over 500 other kids was because he was much
smaller than the others, and that short to tall dichotomy with Herman played well on screen.
This figure seems a bit too tall to me, coming in at about 6". Even the face sculpt seems older, closer to a teen than the
original Eddie. The widow's peak seems a bit extreme, much deeper and thicker in appearance than it should be.
Marilyn was very pretty, the sort of 1960's sweet girl next door pretty, and the rest of the family pitied her for her
'plain' looks. The sculpt here captures that essence, but they didn't quite nail this one either. Pat Priest, who played Marilyn, was a knock out, but that's
always hard to reproduce in plastic form.
This is also one of those times where the articulation causes a very specific aesthetic problem. The pin ankles give her
some weird cankles, and it's not a good look.
It's not that you won't recognize either character - you will. But the likeness is just not quite there.
Eddie comes in at about 6", while Marilyn is closer to 7 1/2". Both have hands that are sculpted to work with the
accessories, and both stand great on their own.
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Paint - ***
There's nothing exceptional about the paint work, but it is fairly clean overall.
There's a few spots that are a bit gloppy, and I noticed a few poor cut lines, but the problems aren't extreme.
I like the dry brushing on Marilyn's dress, giving it a little more detail than the plain yellow. The faces and hair are
also solid work, critical areas on any figure.
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Articulation - ***
Both figures are well articulated, considering the style and design.
Both have very good ball jointed necks, with plenty of tilt and lean action. The arms have ball shoulders - 'NECA' style -
cut biceps, pin elbows and cut wrists. The torso includes a cut waist and Marilyn has an ab crunch as well, and these
work pretty well.
The legs have either ball jointed hips (Marilyn) or hinge style hips (Eddie), as well as pin knees and ankles. There's also
a cut thigh joint on both, allowing the feet to turn outward, a big plus for many stances.
You should have no trouble getting a good stance out of each, and since these aren't superheros, extreme poses aren't
really necessary.
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Accessories - ***
There are five accessories - two for Marilyn, two for Eddie, and one just for everyone.
Eddie comes with Woof Woof,
his stuffed toy. It's sculpted to stand on its own, or to be held in Eddie's arms or hand. I like that they put him in his
sleepwear, but the sculpt looks more like a cross between a wolfman and Chaney's Hunchback, than the very werewolf-like Woof
Woof. Perhaps there was some worry that the original doll looked too much like the 1941 Chaney Wolfman, and that might have
created some licensing concerns.
Marilyn comes with a book called "Tomb and Garden". I'm sure it was tough thinking of good accessories for her - let's face
it, she never did a whole lot on the show.
Both figures come with a wooden floor display base, to go along with the rest of the line. They don't actually hook
together, but they give some consistency to the display. Neither have to use the base to stay upright.
Finally, there's the huge collar for Spot, the dragon they keep under the stars. It includes a hunk of chain, but it's all
plastic - no metal. They have shown a prototype of the staircase playset, so this collar may be even more useful in the near
future.
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Fun Factor - ***
These are articulated well enough for play, and are sturdy enough to hold up. These aren't really kid toys - the desire to
display them and pose them will come from nostalgia - but they should still retain that toy essence.
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Value - ***1/2
Most specialty market figures are $15 - $20 each right now, including the rest of the Munsters family. However, you should
be able to snag these for around $11 each. Since they have as many accessories as many other specialty market action
figures, and are running several dollars cheaper, they are definitely a solid value.
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Things to Watch Out For -
Zippo!
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Overall - ***
Occasionally, we get action figures or other collectibles based on characters that I never expected to see. These two are a
great example. While I have fond memories of watching the Munsters on a black and white television, I'm surprised that
enough other geeks are that nostalgic about the show. It's nice to see though - unusual licenses are a welcome change
of pace from the millionth Star Wars or Batman figure.
It's also great that we've completed the core family, so that you aren't left with a display lacking someone important.
Let's face it, our Sideshow LOTR series is never going to look right without the full Fellowship, and it's great to see all
the Munsters together in one style.
These are also available in black and white, although I think you can only get Eddie and Marilyn in that paint deco if you
buy the full family pack.
They've shown off a stair case play set, as well as new versions of both Herman and Grampa (check here
for photos from SDCC last summer), and I'm hopeful that we'll see those make it to market.
Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - **1/2
Paint - ***
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ***1/2
Overall - ***
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Where to Buy
Online options include these site sponsors:
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has the pair for $21.
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has the siblings for $22, and the family for $65.
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has this pair for $23, and the full family for $68.
- Entertainment Earth has the family for $65, and the pair for $22. They also have some 'not mint'' packages that are MUCH cheaper, and well worth
picking up if you are an opener.
- or you can search
ebay for a deal.
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Related Links -
Other Munsters include Herman, Lilly and Grampa,
and there were also black and white versions of each. DST has done series
1 and series 2 of the classic Universal
Monsters in this same scale as well.
You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case
any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this review? Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be
discussing it!
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer. Photos and text by Michael Crawford.
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